Monday, February 06, 2006

Poetry & Purpose in Isaiah 61:10-11

Isaiah 61:10-11
א) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord
ב) My soul will be joyful to my God
א) For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation
ב) He has covered me with the robe of righteousness
א) As a bridegroom decks (himself) in ornaments
ב) And a bride adorns (herself) in her jewels

א) For as the earth brings forth its buds
ב) And a garden causes what has been sown in it to spring forth
ג) So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations

The poetic structure of the passage has been highlighted using Hebrew letters

The first section is preparation and lead for the second section
The first two lines are what the author is doing, or who he is
The 4 lines after that explain and flesh why that is so

The second section explains who God is and what He is doing
The last line appears to be the purpose of the entire passage

In the last stanza notice the parallel between the last two lines.
garden ~ Lord God
what has been sown ~ righteousness and praise

In the last stanza i find it interesting that "the earth brings forth it's buds" while "the garden causes what has been sown in it to spring forth"
The first is a natural process while the second is what has been/is being produced (purpose).
That in turn applies to the last line.
"So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations"

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